If it didn’t already mirror real life, there would be something kind of brilliant about a brash new-to-politics B-grade celebrity rising to power based on her penchant to speak her mind. [Viv Rook (Emma Thompson) even ends up naming her party the Four Star **** party, based on the bleeping of her f-bombs on live …
In the opening moments of Waves, the camera spins euphorically as it follows a day in the life of 18-year-old Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). He goes to school, he works out, he hangs with his friends, and—most memorably in the opening shot—drives down the sunny Florida highway with his girlfriend hanging out of the car …
There has already been much criticism of reviewers giving away too much of the plot beforehand, which spoils somewhat of the “surprise” of the film, so I’ll do my best. The basic characters are college-boy Frank (Nick Stahl) dating an older woman (Marisa Tomei… acting!) who not only has a couple of kids, but a …
A gaggle of estranged adult siblings return home when the patriarch of the family passes away. Sibling heckling occurs, secrets are revealed, and they’ve all just maybe grown up a little when their required “mourning” time is done. That’s right, I’m talking about August, Osage County. Oh… no… wait… (flipping through notes), this film is …
Former Saturday Night Live co-stars Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader build on their existing friendship and professional history to co-star as dysfunctional twins Maggie and Milo, and the result is a funny, poignant and effective dramedy about the family ties that bind. When the film opens, both Maggie and Milo are estranged from each other …
The story takes place in the mid-80s New York City, and is apparently based on director Noah Baumbach’s own family unravelling when he was a teenager. Dad Bernard (Jeff Daniels) is a famous writer. Or, rather he was more famous than he is now, and is pretty much a pretentious washout without much recent success. …
August: Osage County features its own special sort of effed up family. Matriarch Violet (Meryl Streep) is a withering mean old biddy. Violet has been diagnosed with mouth cancer—which is a little bit more than symbolic, considering all the bile that comes spewing from her face in the form of words. Of her three children, …
Everybody’s Fine is not your typical cheery, laugh-a-minute holiday movie. Instead, the film touches on love, loss, disappointment, and reconciliation. It feels a lot like real life and is almost guaranteed to make you cry, but somehow it’s heartening to know that other families have the same communication issues and glitches as the rest of …
When it comes to independent films, it seems I’m always complaining that there is no ending, or at least no sense of resolution when the credits roll. Loverboy is just the opposite. The bulk of the film made me squirm in my seat, but the ending was so wrenching that it almost made the whole …
In a performance that is powerful and yet beautifully nuanced, Elisabeth Banks walks away with every scene she’s in and proves herself a formidable acting talent in a way she never has before. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of Sam (Chris Pine), a salesman up to his eyeballs in debt, whose …